U.S. gymnast Alexandra Raisman hugs coach U.S. coach Mihai Brestyan after results were amended and she was declared winner of the bronze medal during the artistic gymnastics women's apparatus finals for the beam at the 2012 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, Aug. 7, 2012, in London. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)— AP

U.S. gymnast Alexandra Raisman hugs coach U.S. coach Mihai Brestyan after results were amended and she was declared winner of the bronze medal during the artistic gymnastics women's apparatus finals for the beam at the 2012 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, Aug. 7, 2012, in London. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
/ AP

U.S. gymnast Alexandra Raisman hugs coach Mihai Brestyan after results were amended and she was declared winner of the bronze medal during the artistic gymnastics women's apparatus finals for the beam at the 2012 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, Aug. 7, 2012, in London. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)— AP

LONDON 
Aly Raisman was ready to claim her Olympic legacy. She just needed a little bit of karmic justice to help her do it.

Some quick thinking from Martha and Bela Karolyi helped, too.

The ever-steady, ever-stoic captain of the U.S. women's Olympic gymnastics team made history during the event finals on Tuesday, becoming the first American to win gold on floor exercise. She added a bronze on balance beam to cap off an already impressive two-week run.

Not bad for the athlete who's the often overlooked core of the superstar group of U.S. gymnasts known as the "Fierce Five."

Five days after a tiebreaker cost her bronze in the all-around, Raisman won a tiebreaker to reach the podium on beam and turned the confidence boost into what she called the best floor routine of her life.

"Wow!" she yelled after finishing four flawless tumbling runs over 90 nearly flawless seconds. Then she raced to hug coach Mihai Brestyan.

He reminded her to enjoy the moment.

"I told her, 'That's the maximum you can get, now just wait for the color,'" Brestyan said.

It was gold. A sparkly bookend to the gold she helped the U.S. grab in the team finals last week.

The victory gave Raisman three medals for the meet. One more than all-around champion Gabby Douglas. Two more than good friend and world champion Jordyn Wieber.

This from a gymnast who has spent most of her career being too reliable for her own good. The 18-year-old lacks the bubbly star quality of Douglas or the driven intensity of Wieber.

What she does have, however, is power to spare and a "team-first" mentality that filtered down through the ranks.

"It looked like Aly always did the best for the team then when it came to do stuff for Aly Raisman, I don't know, she could not deliver her best," U.S. women's team coordinator Martha Karolyi said.

Until the last day of perhaps the last major meet of her career. Raisman - who lost a tiebreaker to Russia's Aliya Mustafina in the all-around finals that prevented her from joining Douglas on the podium - appeared headed for a similar fate Tuesday when her beam score of 14.966 flashed on the screen.

That was lower than what she normally scores, but Brestyan was resigned to it until the Karolyis, sitting a few rows above, screamed at him to appeal. As the national team coordinator, every medal - or almost medal - matters as much to Martha Karolyi as the gymnasts.

"(Brestyan) didn't want to do it because normally it doesn't work out in my favor," Raisman said. "This time, it did."

After a quick review, the judges bumped Raisman's difficulty score to a 6.3, pushing her into a tie with Romania's Catalina Ponor at 15.066. Raisman earned the medal for executing just a little bit better.

Wieber and Douglas struggled following a draining 10 days, though for very different reasons. Wieber came in looking to win a handful of medals but ended up with just one - the team gold - after failing to qualify for the all-around finals and finishing seventh on floor.